Japanese J9: Hong Kong

First stop for Winter vacation was in Hong Kong.

Immediately, I liked the city. Modern yet distinctly Chinese (hongkongese?).

This feeling probably came from my reunion with Christy:

and Chattie:

These two girls I met while teaching English in Beijing. They were spectacular hostesses. Christy put us up in her family's home [and we got to meet her sister, Chester, and her mom!] and saved us a ton of money by knowing the bus system perfectly.

Chattie, of course, shared her never-ending knowledge of shopping to tell us exactly where to shop for what. This, combined with Christy's no nonsense approach to negotiating prices (No, they are not going to pay the foreigner price... we know you are ripping them off!) -- we came away with quite the deals !

Chattie- on the left. Christy- on the right.

We started off the vacation at a temple in the middle of the city. You go, light incense, pray and make a wish.

The dichotomy of modern big city vs. poverty was evident everywhere. Definitely not as bad as Beijing by any means, tho.

The temple was surrounded by a cool garden..

There were booths and booths of fortune tellers nearby:

Christy is an ice skating instructor so she took us to work with her. We felt like VIPs, skating for free on the 15th floor.

A bit more wandering around the streets of Hong Kong.... and then got dinner...

The next day we took a trip to Macau... an island off of Hong Kong. It used to be a Portuguese colony so it had a *very* distinct european feel. Winding roads, cafes etc... It was strange to hear people who spoke Cantonese Chinese, English and Portuguese. What a crazy combo. Most of Macau is run off of money earned from the casinos... there were a ton of seafront buildings shaped in the motif of the adjoining casino.

We went to a park, saw the remainder of St. Paul's cathedral and went to the overlook at a museum.

We decided to skip the Peak (too commercial) and opt for a seaside overlook of Hong Kong. We met my college friend, Ross [!!] down there and saw Jackie Chan's "hollywood" star. Got some hot pot... just like old times :)! We also saw a guy in a turkey outfit. I almost thought the turkey suit was a mirage at first- Ahhhh how I'm craving turkey still!